Local pro Matt Baty of Bainbridge, Georgia won the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division event at Lake Seminole presented by T-H Marine Saturday after bringing in a limit of bass weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces.
Baty’s two-day total of 45 pounds, 0 ounces gave him the win by a 2-pound, 3-ounce margin in the wind-shortened event (Thursday was canceled) — and earned him a winner’s check worth $56,200.
Nearly 400 anglers competed in this professional bass fishing tournament hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, which took place on Lake Seminole near the convergence of Chattahoochee with nearby cities in Georgia and Alabama.
Shawn York of Sarasota won the Co-Angler Division (for anglers not using their own boat) with a two-day total catch of nine bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces. York won a Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower outboard motor.
Local angler Chuck Laslie of Havana finished third with 10 bass for 27-2 to win $5,600. \On Friday morning, two boats fishing in the tournament were involved in a low-speed collision at around 7:40 a.m. on the Georgia side of Lake Seminole. Both boats were able to make it to the landing at Three Rivers State Park in Chattahoochee, where they were met by local authorities.
One co-angler was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The other three anglers declined medical attention. Weather was were determined not to be a factor in the accident.
For more information about the Costa FLW Series, visit www.FLWFishing.com.
Special to The Herald
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